


Everything until yesterday was a prologue

by vendettadays



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action & Romance, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Mutual Pining, Not Epilogue Compliant, Post-Canon, Rare Pairings, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:42:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25615306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vendettadays/pseuds/vendettadays
Summary: Moegi couldn’t remember a time when she had not been caught in Hanabi’s orbit. This thing they had started years ago had only grown more intense as time passed. But where Hanabi had pushed for more, Moegi had pulled away, unwilling for it to become something more.Moegi could not allow it to become anything more. Not without the guilt of betraying someone close to her from consuming her.
Relationships: Hyuuga Hanabi/Moegi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	Everything until yesterday was a prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I have always wanted to write a wlw fic for Naruto and had somehow paired Hanabi/Moegi together. This had started as a one pager back in 2014 before the Naruto manga finished - back then it was simply Hanabi and Moegi in a teashop, Hanabi an outrageous flirt and Moegi uncomfortable but definitely interested. There was a definite lack of angst. 
> 
> I didn't pick this back up until 2017/2018(?), writing on and off, until it became this 15k beast. I adore the Naruto series, but haven't watched Boruto so this is probably not Boruto-compliant, though I have taken bits and pieces from the Boruto canon. 
> 
> It's been a long time since I've last posted, but hope you enjoy!
> 
> (Title from RADWIMPS' Sparkle - English version)

Moegi frowned at the mission report on the table. She scratched her head and squinted at the inelegant scrawls of kanji, but the more she studied the lines the less they made sense. A gentle breeze tickled the hairs on the back of her neck and she breathed in the sweet scent of cherry blossoms in the air.

At the first sight of sunshine, she had grabbed her reports to spend lunch deciphering chicken scratch at her favourite teashop. Working outside always helped with getting her work done quicker, but not when more than half the reports were illegible. It was going to take longer than her lunch break to understand these reports. She sighed and thought of the stack of papers on her desk that needed filing, the training she needed to do for her specialism exams, and the dirty dishes in her sink from yesterday night.

‘Excuse me?’

Moegi looked up and smiled at the waitress, tray in her hands, carrying the green tea Moegi had ordered. The waitress placed her tea and a plate of mochi next to her reports.

‘I didn’t order anything to eat.’Moegi confused, stopped the waitress as she turned to leave.

‘It’s my treat.’ The waitress brushed a piece of hair behind her ear, a light blush dusted her face. ‘You come here a lot and I noticed that you only ever drink tea, so I thought you might like something sweet to go with it.’

The waitress fiddled with her tray nervously, biting her bottom lip in a way that had Moegi’s eyes lingering a second too long to be polite. She looked around the same age as Moegi who had turned twenty-six in earlier in the month.

Moegi’s face grew hot at being caught staring and she stammered a thank you. The skin underneath her collar prickled when the waitress smiled brightly in return. The waitress gave a quick wave and went back to work, catching Moegi’s eyes with an extra sway of her hips. Until someone blocked her view. Moegi pointedly turned back to her report, heart stuttering mid-beat at recognising the clothes.

Only one person could stop and restart her heart like that.

Only one person could wear tan-coloured hakama with orange flames decorating the bottom with such confidence.

‘What do you want, Hyūga?’

‘Hello to you too.’ Hanabi shuffled along the wooden bench to sit next to Moegi. ‘Can’t I spend time with you without wanting something?’

Moegi grumbled under her breath. Hanabi never sought her out unless she wanted something.

Hanabi leaned in against Moegi, much too close to be considered appropriate when one of them was from a noble house. Moegi tried to ignore her, focusing on the characters of the report but the strokes swam in front of her and refused to focus when Hanabi’s thigh pressed against her own. The clean scent of soap with a hint of cherry blossoms, and something else that was uniquely – no, she wasn’t going to finish that thought – engulfed her senses.

Moegi’s mouth went dry and she had to swallow before she could reply. ‘I’m sure you’re welcome to do what you like.’

The corner of Hanabi’s mouth quirked upwards and she reached across Moegi to steal a mochi, bringing her even closer to her. ‘So who’s the waitress?’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’ Her eyes flicked over to where the waitress was serving a customer a few tables over.

‘You and that waitress need a lesson in espionage.’ Hanabi raised an eyebrow at Moegi, words muffled by the chewy sweet in her mouth, but sounding smug. ‘And you call yourself a shinobi too.’

Moegi glared at Hanabi, but her eyes strayed to the spot of powder on the corner of Hanabi’s growing smirk. She jerked her head away and gulped her green tea down, scalding her tongue and burning her throat.

‘She was being nice,’ said Moegi weakly. ‘She gave me mochi.’

Hanabi rolled her eyes and reached for another sweet. ‘Yes, because that is code for “I want to get into your pants.”’ She licked the powder from her lips and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

‘Stop that.’ Moegi looked away from the peek of tongue between Hanabi’s lips, grabbing a napkin and thrusting it into Hanabi’s face.

‘It’s not like you’re going to eat them.’ Hanabi dabbed at her mouth with the napkin. ‘You hate mochi.’

Moegi stared at Hanabi, unable to avoid Hanabi’s inquisitive gaze. Hanabi waited patiently for Moegi’s reply, because that was what Hanabi did. She had infinite patience, especially when it came to Moegi Kazamatsuri.

The years had added elegance and grace to Hanabi’s features, as it did to all those in the Hyūga family line. With each passing day she looked more and more like a leader. A flyaway strand of Hanabi’s hair loosened in the breeze and without thinking, Moegi reached to tuck it back in place. The moment she touched Hanabi, Moegi’s eyes widened and she snatched her hand away. Her heart hammered and her fingertips burned at the slight touch.

They had been playing this game for so long now. Unwittingly in the beginning and not entirely unwillingly now. Hanabi with her relentless teasing, the inadvertent touches that had become intentional as time went on, and the flirting that went from playful to downright suggestive was a nightmare and a dream for Moegi.

And for Moegi? It was moments like this, the softness that filtered through an unconscious, casual touch that she longed for. And so did Hanabi, or so Moegi thought, from the way her smirk softened into a tentative smile that sent Moegi’s heart racing again.

This thing that they had started years ago had only grown more intense as time passed. Moegi wanted this, whatever it was, and it only made the guilt in her stomach sit heavier. It had to end. The feelings she felt for Hanabi were a betrayal to the one person who had been through everything with her.

‘Stop.’ Moegi shuffled away from Hanabi. They had to stop this back and forth. Hanabi pushing and Moegi pulling away. The foot of space between them could have been a mile and it would not have been enough space. Moegi gestured at the empty space, ‘Stop. We need to stop—’

Hanabi grabbed onto Moegi’s flailing hand and held on tightly. She shuffled closer, resting Moegi’s hand in her lap and hiding it under the table. ‘What needs to be stopped?’

The sight of their intertwined hands only made Moegi want this all the more. The grip on Moegi’s hand lessened as she kept silent, loosening and loosening until the touch felt fleeting. She swallowed hard as fingertips touched her chin, gently coaxing her to look up. She didn’t want to meet Hanabi’s eyes. Seeing Hanabi when she was serious, no longer teasing or smirking, always made her resolve waver.

Moegi closed her eyes at the sight of Hanabi’s hopeful expression. Like she expected Moegi to finally see her and it tore Moegi apart that she was going to crush that hope. Again. She squeezed Hanabi’s hand before forcibly letting go. She moved back so that she was as far out of Hanabi’s orbit as the bench allowed.

‘Tell me, Moegi.’ Her name had never sounded so devastating as it did now. ‘What needs to be stopped?’

‘This. Whatever this is between us.’ Moegi caught herself before she reached out for Hanabi at the frown that appeared. ‘We need to stop this.’

The silent “please” hung in the air with no traction or force. It went unsaid and Moegi didn’t want to say it out loud. It would have been the most insincere plea she could ever say.

‘I only came to ask if you wanted to go to that new café with me.’

‘You know I can’t.’

Hanabi’s back straightened and she shifted until she faced Moegi. It was a like a shutter had fallen over Hanabi’s expression, emotion smoothed out until her face was as expressionless as an unworn noh mask.

Gone was the Hanabi who liked to push Moegi into an uncomfortable mess with just a hand on her thigh or a coy glance from beneath her eyelashes, and in her place was the future leader of the Hyūga family. Almost. Hanabi’s eyes gave her away and Moegi was breathless at the fury smouldering in her white eyes. 

‘No, I _don’t_ know why you can’t.’ A muscle in Hanabi’s jaw twitched. The tiniest of imperfections on an otherwise flawless mask.

Moegi gritted her teeth and met Hanabi’s furious glare. They stared at each other, gripped in a stalemate that Moegi was not going to be the first to break. She didn’t have to explain herself to Hanabi about her reasons. They were as clear as day to her and Hanabi should have been aware without her telling her.

The fight in Moegi drained little by little as they continued their silent battle, until there was nothing left and she was able to breathe steadily. She took in the sight of Hanabi. Her presence flared as her chakra fluctuated and Moegi almost quailed under the pressure of it.

She’s beautiful, thought Moegi as the pressure lessened and the sounds of the teashop filtered back into her ears. She bit her lip and pushed down the guilt that rose again like a wave. ‘I can’t.’

‘You can’t or you won’t?’ The cracks grew bolder until Hanabi’s mask fell apart. The question was laden with more questions than answers that either of them could find.

Moegi’s heart beat faster at the memory the question evoked. It was the same one that Hanabi had asked during a mission over a year ago. A stolen, heated moment. An urgent press of lips against skin. Fingers fumbling with uncooperative straps and zips. Hands sliding into long hair. The back of Moegi’s head hitting the tree she had rested against as a thigh slipped between her legs.

At Moegi’s silence, Hanabi nodded, coming to a conclusion Moegi was not a part of. ‘I understand. I will not bother you about this again.’

Hanabi moved along the bench and got up carefully, hands holding onto her hakama so that it didn’t snag against the wood. Moegi’s eyes widened at the sudden indifference that had fallen on Hanabi as she watched Hanabi walk away from her.

***

The jingling of the bell announced Moegi’s arrival as she closed the shop door. She waved at Tenten who waved back distractedly, focused entirely on the the clipboard in her hand. It was the last Wednesday of the month, which meant Tenten was busy with organising the new stock delivered this morning. Moegi came to the shop enough that Tenten was comfortable to leave her to peruse and browse when she had things to do.

‘I’ve just got in a new type of shuriken from the Land of Iron.’ Tenten dropped her clipboard onto the counter and walked over to where Moegi stood looking at the display of shuriken on the wall.

‘I’m not a huge fan of the shuriken from there.’ Moegi did need a new set. But Land of Iron shuriken were notorious for being heavy and old-fashioned, forged from the same metal that gave the country its name. It felt like throwing a cast iron pan in battle. 

Tenten’s eyes brightened and she opened a drawer beneath the display. ‘Well, this is going to change your opinion.’ Picking out a black box in hand, Tenten gestured for Moegi to follow her.

Moegi leaned on the counter like she had done the hundred other times she had been in Tenten’s shop. She had been one of the first customers to walk through the door when _Tenten’s Armoury_ had opened for business a year after the Fourth Shinobi War. ‘So tell me. How is it going to change my opinion?’

The box revealed eight shuriken resting on a bed of velvet. It didn’t look all that different from the set that Moegi owned. The blades were expertly crafted, shiny and new, but Moegi frowned at the wavy patterns on the sharpened edges. She picked one up, surprised at how light it was and turned it around in her hands.

‘The Blacksmiths out in Iron finally got something right.’ Tenten held a shuriken up, twirled it with expert fingers. With a flick, the shuriken flew from her handsto embed itself in the doorframe. ‘You see that?’ Tenten pointed at the dark waves along the blades. ‘They’ve finally decided to forge the metal the same way they forge their katana.’

‘How much are they?’ asked Moegi, bringing the weapon closer to examine. She still had a few months before her exams, which would be more than enough to get used to the new shuriken.

Tenten flicked through her clipboard and Moegi’s eyes widened at the price she was told. She would have to save two months of her salary in order to pay for it and that was without paying rent or eating for that matter.

‘It’s expensive, but they’re worth it in the end,’ said Tenten sympathetically. 

‘You’re the expert, so I’ll take your word for it.’ Moegi gave an experimental twirl, but her skills with shuriken were nowhere near Tenten’s and it fell from her fingers with a clatter against the wooden counter.

The lines at the corner of Tenten’s eyes crinkled as she grinned. Evidently not mad that she had dropped one of the more expensive weapons in her shop. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t tell the Hokage that he failed as a mentor for not teaching you how to hold a shuriken.’

A burst of laughter bubbled from Moegi, loud and unexpected like a cork popping from a champagne bottle. The laughter surprised her. There hadn’t been anything to laugh about in the last month. Konohamaru was on a mission. Udon spent more and more time researching for the Hokage. Hanabi… Moegi heart ached as she remembered how their last conversation had ended. They hadn’t spoken since the teashop.

The bell at the door jingled brightly.

‘Hanabi! It’s been a while!’

Moegi whirled around to the front of the shop. Hanabi stood in the doorway, caught mid-step with her hand resting on the door handle, one foot inside the shop and the other outside.

Speak of the devil and she shall appear.

The shocked look on Hanabi’s face disappeared, rearranged into impassivity as she closed the door. Hanabi walked over to where they were stood and Moegi’s chest tightened with every step that brought Hanabi closer, unable to breathe as if Hanabi had stolen the ability from her the moment she walked in. Weeks had gone by and Hanabi’s absence reminded her of how much time they had unconsciously spent together.

In the intervening weeks between the teashop and now, Moegi had missed Hanabi desperately. The sight of long, brown hair in a crowd distracted her and Moegi floundered at the realisation that without Hanabi’s company, she felt bereft and unmoored, passing each day without much thought. She couldn’t go to the teashop without thinking about their argument.

Hanabi stood next to Moegi and glanced at her to acknowledge her presence, but looked at her for far too long to be polite. ‘Moegi.’

The tightness in Moegi’s chest intensified into a sharp pain at the sound of her name. Her name had never sounded so plain. No sing-song lilt as Hanabi teased her, no inflection at the last syllable to annoy her just because, and no depth that spoke of a secret intimacy between them. Stunned, Moegi could only nod in return. For a moment she thought she saw a flicker of something marring Hanabi’s neutral expression, but with blink it was gone.

‘I wanted to ask if I could accompany you to visit Neji today?’

‘Of course, I finish at four today.’

Hanabi nodded. ‘That’s fine. I’ll meet you outside after work.’

Hanabi lingered for a moment, eyeing the set of shuriken on the counter, but without another word to Moegi she left. The bell sounded as the door shut, a cheery tinkle thatleft the shop in discomforting quiet.

Moegi stood frozen as the ringing faded. Tenten fiddled with the shuriken before putting it carefully back into the box.

‘If the war has taught me anything.’ Tenten looked up at Moegi with a sad smile. ‘It’s that you have to be brave. You have to take the chances before they are taken from you.’

Was she that obvious? Moegi looked down at the worn wood beneath her hands, unable to meet Tenten’s pitying gaze. The words were meant as a comfort, but Moegi felt like an intruder to an intimate confession. Only a handful of people knew about Tenten’s love for Neji Hyūga. It was clear as day looking back on it now. She had only found out a few years ago when she had passed by the shop to see it closed. Curious, Moegi had walked to the window to see Tenten, exactly where she was now, with a ceramic flask of _sake_ next to a solitary cup, a forehead protector in hand, and silent tears running down her face. Moegi had intruded then and had listened as Tenten nursed a broken heart on the anniversary of Neji’s death.  
  
‘Thank you.’ Moegi respected Tenten as a skilled shinobi, a comrade, but most of all as a friend. But this was the one piece of advice she wasn’t sure she could accept. ‘I want to, but I can’t, not without losing something else.’

***

‘What’s wrong with you?’ Konohamaru launched a volley of kicks and punches, swiftly countering the punches Moegi threw back and leapt backwards into a somersault at the swipe she aimed for his head. ‘You’re normally more focused than this.’

He landed on the trunk of a tree, bent his legs at the knees and propelled himself forward. ‘ _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!’ In a puff of smoke four shadow clones appeared, fists raised and yelling a battle cry.

Moegi sidestepped the attacks, ducking and dodging and twirling to avoid the clones. With a cry she slammed her palm onto the ground, four wooden pillars shot upwards, hitting the replicas under the chin in a jaw-smashing uppercut and they disappeared with a pop. She _was_ distracted and her heart wasn’t in it. Every movement felt monotonous, robotic and her jutsu were half-hearted at best.

‘Tell-me-what’s-wrong,’grunted Konohamaru, each word punctuated with jab of his hand. Moegi pushed his fists away with her palms.

‘It’s nothing.’ She jumped away from his assault and launched a barrage of kunai straight.  
  
‘Fine, I’ll guess then. Work problem?’ Konohamaru fell to his front, rolling out of the way as they exploded, showering him in shrapnel. He brought his fingers to his lips and inhaled deep, chest expanding with the movement.

Moegi dived to the side, a hair’s breadth from the burst of flames he sent from his mouth, singeing her flak jacket. ‘No.’

‘Okay, love-life problem it is.’

She faltered, messing up the snake seal for her jutsu, but recovered quickly with a modified transportation jutsu to Konohamaru’s back. She slammed her knee into his back, sending him rolling to the far side of the training field. Her and Hanabi’s continued distance had brought about an unwelcome awareness of her absence and with every thought of her, Moegi felt more distracted.

‘Ouch! That’s more like it!’ Konohamaru got to his feet, arms up as he stretched his back. ‘Hit a sore spot, did I?’

‘No, but I did.’

‘Whatever Moegi. Come on, let’s finish this and get lunch, you can tell me all about it. Loser buys barbecue!’ Konohamaru smirked and gave her two thumbs up.

That was a thought, telling Konohamaru the truth about how the thing between her and his fiancée. Yeah, that was a conversation that would go down well. ‘Fine, winner gets to choose dessert!’

‘Than you better get ready to eat a whole plateful of mochi!’ yelled Konohamaru.

There was no way Moegi was going to let him win. She widened her stance, hands outreached and held loosely in front of her as she stared Konohamaru down. She hated mochi _._

Konohamaru hands twitched like it itched to form seals. It was a tell, one she kept telling him to break else one day it may be the last time. He lurched to the right. There! She charged, hand balled into a fist for a punch, leg bent at the knee ready to plough into his stomach with unforgiving speed. Her head snapped to the side, jaw clenching shut with a loud clack as she met a chakra-powered punch to the face that might have rivalled Sakura Haruno’s fist.

Pain exploded in her right cheek and she tasted blood from biting her tongue. Her eyes closed instinctively as she sailed through the air like a rag doll.

‘Oh crap! Moegi!’

She landed on her back hard, the air rushing from her lungs in a whoosh that left her breathless as her body skidded to a stop.

‘Moegi! Are you alright?’ Two Konohamarus appeared in her vision, followed by another two Udons. She blinked rapidly and shook her head, rousing the dust underneath until her four teammates became one Konohamaru and one Udon. ‘You’ve never fallen for the pretend-to-go-left-but-really-punch-from-right feint!’

‘Udon when did you get here?’ grumbled Moegi, cringing at Konohamaru’s loud voice. Her eyelids drooped and she struggled to keep them open. The effort to keep her mind alert suddenly a lot harder.

‘As you were sent flying from Konohamaru’s punch.’

Moegi groaned and lay as still as she could. Everything hurt. Her back ached from landing on the ground. Every single muscle, joint, and bone in her face screamed in pain. It certainly felt like he r face had caved in. ‘Thought you were at the admin buildings today, not training?’

‘The Hokage sent me. He wants to see you,’ said Udon. He offered a hand up to help her.

She grasped his hand and with Udon’s help, pulled herself to her feet. The world tilted dramatically, swirling in a dizzying kaleidoscope. She grasped Udon’s arm as nausea set in, upsetting her stomach. She ignored it as best she could and straightened up, swaying on her feet as she brushed the dirt and grass off her clothes.

‘Hey, you sure you’re okay?’ asked Konohamaru, stooping a little to look her in the eyes. He winced and touched her face with his fingertips. ‘I hit you really hard.’

She tried to smile, but her face wouldn’t work into much more than a grimace. She wiped the blood at the corner of her mouth with her sleeve.

‘It’ll probably just bruise. I’ll head to the clinic after seeing the Hokage.’ Ignoring the concerned look that Udon and Konohamaru shared, she clapped Konohamaru on the shoulder, forced her feet to move in a straight line and headed out of the training grounds.

The walk to the Hokage’s offices wasn’t long. A transportation jutsu would have done the trick, but Moegi’s vision swam and spun when she concentrated too much on trying to form seals. Anything more than one step in front of the next raised her nausea to uncomfortable levels. A chakra supported run was out of the question. The fall from the rooftops and tree branches would be an embarrassing end for her. No, she would walk, listen to what the Hokage wanted, and then head to the clinic.

She waved to Yasuko who was sat behind the reception desk. Yasuko nodded and didn’t question Moegi’s dishevelled appearance, used to shinobi in various states of wear and tear. The stairs were the next hurdle. Moegi looked at the first step and took a deep breath. The four flights of stairs up to the Hokage’s office had never felt more like a mountain than it did now.

‘What happened?’ Moegi jerked her head up from counting the last step to the top floor. Bad idea. She pitched backwards, slipping on the top step. Her hand grasped blindly for the banister. She closed her eyes and waited for the fall.

The rush of air didn’t happen. Her spine never met the corners of the steps. Her back slamming onto the ground floor landing didn’t happen. When Moegi opened her eyes, right in front of her, face inches away was Hanabi, white eyes wide and blazing with anger. Her shoulder should have hurt from Hanabi’s grip, but her face hurt more.

‘What happened?’ Hanabi demanded again. She dragged Moegi to the chairs outside the Hokage’s office and sat down next to her.

Hanabi’s gaze roved over Moegi’s face, eyes lingering on her cheek, the corner of her eye, her nose, even her cut lip. Moegi stayed still, her insides squirming under the scrutiny. This was the first time in two months that Hanabi had spoken to her. It was the closest they’d been together and Moegi looked like a bruised plum that had been dropped too many time.

She caught her reflection in the window and winced at the mess that was her face. Less like a bruised plum and more like road kill. Her right eye was swollen shut, a deep purple bruise already bloomed on her skin, and her lip was split and swollen with blood running from the corner of her mouth. She was dirty and sweaty, hair mussed and dusty, and clothes ripped and covered in grass stains. ‘Wasn’t quick enough to dodge Konohamaru’s punch in training.’

Hanabi’s eyes softened, her tightly pursed lips relaxed and the blood returned to them colouring it from light pink to red. Moegi was utterly fixated on them. She leaned back on the chair, unable to sit straight any longer, and yet what she wanted was to be closer to Hanabi and lean against her.

Moegi flinched at the cool hand that cupped the injured side of her face, wincing at the pain it caused no matter how gentle it was.

‘I’m sorry,’ murmured Hanabi. Her hand shook slightly against Moegi’s cheek, unsure of herself in a way that Moegi had never seen on the normally confident woman. ‘Hold still. I’ll try not to hurt you too much.’

Warmth radiated from Hanabi’s touch, soaking into Moegi’s skin like water into a sponge. The glow from the healing jutsu was bright, forcing her to close her uninjured eye, but with every second that passed the warmth spread through her body like ripples on a placid lake. The pain dulled from a heady throb to sore tenderness, the dizziness dissipated until all that was left was a mild ache behind her eyes, and her stomach didn’t revolt at every movement of her head.

The air around her stopped humming with energy. She waited for the touch to disappear, to leave her healed face, but callused fingertips stroked along the line of her jaw, tender and unexpected and she released a breath at the thumb that caressed tiny circles against her healed cheekbone. The pain had long become a dull throb. Moegi leaned in closer, searching for that gentle pressure against her face, knowing that as soon as she opened her eyes this would be gone. Moegi reached up and held onto Hanabi’s hand, stilling the movements and opened her eyes.  
  
She swallowed at the sight of Hanabi’s frown, an expression that seemed to be a constant on Hanabi where Moegi was concerned. They hadn’t seen each other, but Moegi was painfully aware of every quirk of Hanabi’s lips, every raised eyebrow, and crossed arms that was not directed at her. She had said they couldn’t do this, but with every second that passed the reasons seemed less important. All Moegi wanted to do was breach the gap between them and cover Hanabi’s lips with her own.

Moegi jumped away from Hanabi at the sharp creak of stiff door hinges, any further thoughts disappeared at the appearance of the Hokage’s bright, yellow hair as he poked his head outside of his office.

Naruto flashed a grin at them. ‘Moegi, Hanabi, just in time. Come in, come in.’

She strode quickly after the Hokage. Space. She needed space and not what almost happened.  
  
Naruto sat down behind his desk and frowned, lips jutting out as he considered Moegi for a moment. Oh no, had he seen something? ‘Yasuko said you were pretty banged up when you arrived.’

‘Um, yeah, I was. Hanabi healed me.’

Moegi looked over at Hanabi who stood to attention, silent and impassive, no longer the hesitant person she had been moments before.

‘Good, ‘cause I’m sending you two on a mission,’ said Naruto. He held up two folders for Moegi to take.

She handed a folder to Hanabi and as she did so, her fingers brushed against Hanabi’s hand. She opened the folder, tamping down on the memory of that hand cradling her face, and hid herself behind the report.

‘Hokage?’ Hanabi’s voice drew Moegi from her hiding place. ‘With all due respect, but this is a capture mission. Why do you need two jōnin when a team of three chūnin overseen by one jōnin would be more than effective?’

From anyone else it would have sounded disrespectful to question the decision of the Hokage. From Hanabi it was a genuine question, layered beneath a placating tone of diplomacy learned from years of etiquette and negotiation lessons. Moegi had seen Hanabi’s sister do the same. She scanned the brief again. Hanabi was right. It was a capture mission on the border of Fire and Wind. Nothing suggested that it needed more than a jōnin-chūnin team.

‘You’re right, Hanabi.’ Naruto leaned back in his chair and threw his hands behind his head. He rested his feet on the corner of his desk. ‘A simple recon mission and I would have sent out a team, but it’s more than that. We’ve been receiving reports from our own and from Suna that the civilian villages on the border of Fire and Wind have had a “reorganisation” in local government. That’s normal and no need for us to intervene where we’re not concerned.

‘Out of this unrest a key player has emerged. Yosuke Takayoshi. This guy’s declared himself the Lord of these villages. The countries borders don’t matter to him, the existing authorities of the villages were killed at night, and he has installed his most trusted in their place,’ Naruto paused, blue eyes determined and angry. ‘Women and children have been taken from families. Gaara has reported movements of his men in Wind with plans to take over Suna, so there is every chance they’re on their way to us next.’

Moegi flicked onto the next page with a photo stapled to the corner. It was bad quality, taken from the cover of trees, but there was enough to make out the subject’s face. Black hair shaved close to the scalp, jaw framed by a tidy, dark beard. He would have been nondescript if it weren’t for the ragged scar that ran down the left side of his face. She turned the page and almost slammed it shut at the photos. The women and children.

‘Where do we come in?’ Moegi closed the folder. She’d seen enough.

‘Our intel places Takayoshi at Hanamura bridge in seven days. Gather information on their plans, their movements, get a list of his trusted generals. He’ll be accompanied by a band of mercenaries, but its the two personal guards that will work you harder.’ Naruto sat up, taking his feet off his desk and looked at them both seriously. ‘We don’t know if the two are missing-nin or just exceptionally skilled soldiers, but our scouts haven’t been able to pin them to a village. Your primary mission is neutralise the two guards and capture Takayoshi.’

‘Understood.’ Hanabi closed the folder, raised two fingers to activate the seal within the papers. ‘Release!’

Both folders burst into flames, destroying the reports instantly. Moegi dropped the burning papers into the waste bin along with Hanabi’s. Good riddance.

‘Good, you’ll leave tomorrow morning before dawn.’

With a wave from Naruto, they left the Hokage’s office together. Moegi walked out the building first and stopped outside of the courtyard gates, not ready to leave Hanabi's company, stilted and awkward as it was.

The end of spring approached taking with it the last of the scented breezes and mild weather that Moegi enjoyed so much. The tendrils of summer were unfolding and the days grew warmer with every passing sunset. Tanabata would be upon them soon. This year would be no different for Moegi, she would go with Konohamaru and Udon again. Even if she longed for someone else tojoin her.

Moegi shuffled her feet and waited. Hanabi tilted her face upwards to soak in the late afternoon sun. Now that they were no longer in the Hokage’s presence, Moegi wasn’t sure how to act.

Hanabi turned away from the sky and faced Moegi. ‘We should take stock of our inventory. Make sure we have everything we need before we head out tomorrow morning.’

‘Sounds good.’ Moegi pushed away her insecurities. They had a mission to do. Her duties as a shinobi and to the village had to go before her personal matters.

‘Let’s meet at five to discuss further. Are you able to come to the estate?’  
  
The Hyūga estate to discuss the mission? Moegi shook her head. They needed somewhere neutral. Her own tiny apartment was out of the question. They would talk about inventory, not the mission itself, so a public place would be fine. ‘How about the café near Tenten’s shop?’  
  
Hanabi hesitated and worried her bottom lip. It was a bad idea after all. Moegi opened her mouth to retract the offer when Hanabi nodded, saying she would be there at five before walking briskly away.

***

The café was a fifteen-minute walk from Moegi’s apartment and brought her right past Tenten’s shop. She waved at Tenten from outside and poked her head through the door for a quick hello, mentioning that she would be away on mission for the next week. She had hoped the visit would make her right on time, but even with the stop, she arrived outside the café earlier than expected. She walked in and stood in the foyer.

‘Welcome to Café Feuille.’ The waiter greeted her with a smile. ‘How many?’

‘A table for two.’ She looked around, glad to have changed out of her shinobi gear when she saw there wasn’t even a flak jacket in sight. Everyone here were in civilian clothing. ‘My— Friend will be arriving in a bit.’

‘Sorry, I’m afraid we don’t have any tables left.’ The waiter turned around and from over his shoulder Moegi saw that every table was occupied. ‘There is one! Please follow me.’  
  
He grabbed onto two menus and led her to a sofa with a coffee table. ‘May I get you something to drink while you wait?’

‘A green tea please.’

‘Coming right up!’

Moegi sat down on the sofa. It was comfortable and entirely too cosy, made for more familiar company than she and Hanabi could be.

The line had blurred outside the Hokage’s office once again and not been redefined, and it had left Moegi floundering on how to act. She flicked through the menu carelessly before putting it down. Of all days, today they did not have a table with two upright chairs. She sighed and brushed the imaginary lint off her trouser. The table would have been the buffer she needed, but now she was expected to sit side by side with Hanabi, who got under her skin just by being.

Moegi straightened her pink shirt and paused in the middle of fiddling with the red ribbon at her collar. She dropped her hands onto her knees and gripped onto them to stop her fidgeting.

This wasn’t a date. Then why was she acting like it was? She looked around the café, seeing only couples together. God, she was obtuse. No wonder Hanabi hesitated when she had asked.

The sofa cushion dipped next to her and her shoulder collided into another. Hanabi nodded in greeting. Menu in hand, Hanabi scanned it without a word. Moegi’s right side seemed to burn with the awareness of Hanabi’s body next to her. Their shoulders touched as Hanabi got comfortable, jostling Moegi as she did so. The sleeve of Hanabi’s deep beige kosodebrushed against Moegi’sarm, eliciting a shudder that shook through her body.

‘Here’s your green tea.’ The waiter placed the ceramic mug in front of her with a large smile. ‘I asked our barista to use the premium green tea we have in the shop, so I hope you enjoy it.’  
  
She said her thanks, but the waiter kept waiting. Hanabi cleared her throat once then twice before the waiter realised that Hanabi was trying to get his attention.  
  
‘A cappuccino, please.’

‘Yes, of course.’ He fumbled with his notepad, flicking the pages with clumsy fingers and scribbled the order down.He gave one last smile to Moegi and rushed off with the order.

‘He was flirting with you,’ muttered Hanabi. She leaned back against the cushions and turned to Moegi.

‘Was that what it was?’ The beginnings of a smile appeared at the corner of Hanabi’s mouth.

The heaviness in Moegi’s heart lifted at being able to crack the indifference that had fallen over Hanabi’s interaction with her. She blew on the hot tea and sipped it carefully. ‘My green tea at home tastes better.’ 

Hanabi’s smile grew wider at the comment. ‘I’m no expert, but even I believe the tea I prepare at our family’s informal tea gatherings taste better than the teabags used here. Hinata’s tea is exceptionally good, but she has always been better at tea ceremony than me. I can never sit still for the length of time it takes for a tea ceremony.’

‘You should try Konohamaru’s. Our last mission together he mixed my green tea bags with Udon’s medicine sachets.’ She had taken two large gulps before spraying it all over his face.

They laughed together as Moegi regaled Hanabi with a description of Konohamaru’s face, eyes wide in disgust at being spat at.

‘Shall we get started?’ asked Hanabi after reigning in her laughter, though the smile didn’t quite disappear. She rearranged her dark red hakama and tucked her right leg under her left, shifting until she faced Moegi fully. Hanabi’s knee bumped into Moegi’s thigh and it was like striking a match against the side of a matchbox.

It was the barest of touches, but the lightness Moegi had felt from their earlier moment plummeted with her mood. Less than five minutes of conversation and she was reminded of how much she missed this.

She missed the easiness of their conversations. The effortless way Hanabi spoke to Moegi without a filter, imparting personal stories easily and with an honesty that would have been discouraged by the Hyūga elders. She missed Hanabi’s unthinking touches when she emphasised a point. Hanabi had never cared for the whispers of impropriety that the Hyūga elders always scolded her on. It was inappropriate for the future Hyūga leader to be so familiar with someone in public.

All of this only made her miss Hanabi all the more.Unable to keep her mind from lingering over it and invading her concentration, she moved away to the far end of the sofa and poked at the elephant in the room. ‘For the sake of this mission, and any future mission, please can we remain professional?’

Confusion clouded Hanabi’s expression before darkening as understanding sunk in. Hanabi glared at Moegi, eyes sharp with reproach and the veins at the corners of her eyes and temple bulged with the threat of her Byakugan. With visible effort, Hanabi closed her eyes and when she opened them again she appeared calm, words muttered out with staunch control. ‘I have been nothing but professional from the moment we were asked by the Hokage to be on this mission.’

Hanabi was right. She hadn’t down anything wrong from the moment they had entered the Hokage’s office. Moegi bit her lip and gripped onto her tea, fingers clenching around the cup, feeling chastised. She had done the thing she had told herself she would not do. She put her personal matters before the mission.

‘If we are going to move forward, we need to learn to trust each other again.’ Hanabi picked up her cappuccino and sipped it. The coffee having arrived in the midst of their argument and bypassing Moegi's attention completely.

‘I do trust you! I know that—’

The bottom of Hanabi’s mug hit the coffee table hard. The muscles in Hanabi’s jaw flexed like she was grinding her teeth. ‘Then trust that I will respect your wishes. I have been true to my word and not brought it up.’

Moegi bowed her head in shame. ‘You’re right. Please accept my apologies.’

The café’s cosy atmosphere surrounded them with the low murmur of conversation from the other customers, the clinking of cutlery against plates and bowls, and the susurrus of laughter from somewhere else in the café.It was completely at odds with the strained silence between them and Moegi wished that she hadn’t ruined the camaraderie they had begun to repair. 

‘I accept you apology, Moegi.’

Moegi jerked her head up. Her mouth flapped open and closed uselessly. The tension in her shoulders left along with the breath she’d held. ‘Thank you.’

She breathed easier after their armistice and moved closer to the middle of the sofa to discuss the mission at hand - the sole reason they were here in the first place.

‘What do you think of the two personal guards?’ Moegi asked after they decided standard mission packs would be enough.

Hanabi lowered her mug and looked at the contents, swirling the liquid in a circle. Moegi had long abandoned her green tea and had ordered a coffee of her own. Moegi pursed her lips. The brief had almost nothing on them. They had only the Hokage’s words to guide them.

‘Treat them as missing-nin. S-class level. To treat them as less would underestimate them and would be a grave mistake on our part.’ Hanabi drank down the last of her cappuccino. ‘It’s a short mission, but we’ll need to have the enough weapons.’

‘I’m on my last shuriken, but that won’t be a problem.’ Moegi wasn’t much of shuriken user anyway, preferring jutsu to weaponry, something that had outraged Tenten when Moegi had first told her. ‘There are caches that I know that could keep us going if the mission’s prolonged.’

‘I think that covers everything that we need to talk.’ Hanabi picked up the menu again and flagged a passing waitress down. She ordered a slice of the strawberry cake and looked over to Moegi, who shook her head at the offer of cake. ‘Their cakes and pastries are the best in the Land of Fire apparently. I’ve wanted to try it since they opened.’

It hit her like Konohamaru’s punch in the face. This was the same café Hanabi had wanted to go to two months ago. The same one she had refused to go with her. Moegi could have slapped herself for being so dense.

***

They stayed later than they should have. Moegi had enjoyed it too much, talking about her training to become a specialist jōnin and Hanabi about all the administrative duties her father had handed over to her. It was all in preparation for when she would take over his role as head of the Hyūga family. After two slices of cake for Hanabi and a bowl of soup for herself they left the café.

Moegi closed the door of the café after Hanabi. Night had fallen and it was getting late if they wanted to get enough rest for tomorrow. She stood next to Hanabi, ready to say goodbye when Hanabi’s eyes widened.

‘Hinata? What are you doing here?’

The older Hyūga walked up to them. ‘I’m on my way to have dinner with Sakura,’ Hinata replied calmly, a stark difference to her younger sister’s outburst. ‘What about you?’

‘I— We j-just finished discussing a mission.’ It had taken all of ten minutes to grind the details out.

Moegi watched the exchange with interest. Hanabi never stumbled over her words or got flustered. This Hanabi was a total opposite to the Hanabi she had come to known. Different from the restrained shinobi she presented in front of her superiors, but also different to the tactile Hanabi that used to flirt with her. No, this was closer to the Hanabi that healed her face with gentle hands, who got angry with Moegi for being unjust and who found pleasure in a slice of cake.

Hinata looked at the cafe they’d just walked out of and quirked a brow with a frightening resemblance to Hanabi’s. ‘At Café Feuille?’

‘Yes, that was all!’ Hanabi crossed her arms and stalked past Hinata. ‘I’ll see you at home! Moegi, tomorrow before dawn by the village gates.’

They watched as Hanabi strode down the dark street in the direction of the Hyūga estate. Hinata turned to her and Moegi stood taller under her examination, gulping at the scrutiny and feeling very much that she had been found wanting.

‘Please take care of my sister, Moegi.’ Hinata gave a polite bow.

‘Of course, I will not let any harm befall on her.’ Moegi reciprocated, bowing more deeply, uncomfortable at being bowed to by a superior. Moegi would protect Hanabi with her life.

The smile Hinata gave felt like it was at Moegi’s expense, like Hinata knew something that she didn’t know. ‘I have without a doubt that you would do everything in your power to protect Hanabi, but that was not my meaning.’

‘I don't understand?’

‘You are the only one who can invoke a side of Hanabi that not even her family gets to see. She resembles our cousin so much in the way she tries to hold herself.’ Grief tinged Hinata’s face like a dark cloud against a blue sky, but it left as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a wistful expression. ‘Unlike Neji, she never mastered the ability to be remain quite so unaffected in the presence of those she cares deeply for.’

Moegi swallowed down the sudden lump in her throat. Unable to hold Hinata’s gaze any longer, Moegi nodded at the floor, filled with desperate yearning at hearing the admission.

***

It was quiet, unusually so even for the less travelled road to the small merchant town of Hanamura. Hanabi took point while Moegi covered the rear. They had left Konoha three days ago and had made good time without many disturbances. Except now. Moegi scanned the trees lining the dirt path they were walking down. There should have been the sounds of nature, the flapping of wings from birds flying overhead, the rustle of animals at they hid in bushes. Something other than this unnatural silence. Hanabi hadn’t looked back once since they had left the trading post this morning, a sign that she also felt something was amiss.

Moegi pulled the straps of her pack up, so it sat more comfortably on her shoulders. They were being followed and had been for most of the day. The journey from Konoha to Hanamura Bridge had been quiet and uneventful. The civilian villages they had passed were quiet and calm. Nothing untoward had aroused their suspicion. Another day’s walk and they would arrive at the bridge, but first, they had to get rid of their stalkers.

‘Hanabi! Wait a minute, I want to stop for some water.’ She shrugged of her pack and kneeled down to rummage through it for her water canteen.

Hanabi stopped immediately at their code. ‘Good idea. We haven’t stopped since this morning. This will be a good place to rest.’

Moegi brought the canteen to her mouth to hide her words. ‘Two in the trees on our right, one behind us to the left, and another on the other side of the path.’ She dabbed at her chin with her sleeve and passed the canteen to Hanabi who took a drink.

The veins by Hanabi’s eyes swelled as her Byakugan activated. ‘There’s two more at the front. You ready?’

Moegi grinned and took back the canteen. She shoved it into the pack and stood up. ‘Let’s go!’

Her chakra flared alive as she shifted into an offensive stance, feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent and ready to launch at the slightest movement. She raised her hands and curled them into loose fists. She felt Hanabi move into the Gentle Fist form behind her, their flak jackets brushing against each others. From the cover of the trees emerged a group of large, burly soldiers wielding swords, maces and daggers.

Mercenaries. Their weapons were sharp, the body armour new and, instead of tired and weary faces, they were well rested as they twirled their weapons with cocky movements, smirking as if they had already won. They wore all the signs of well-paid hires, but they were no match for two experienced jōnin.

Moegi charged at the closest three, leaping into the air at the last second, and threw a chakra-fuelled kick at the back of two heads. She landed on the balls of her feet, palm flat against the ground and swiped the feet of the third with her own, sending him face first into the dirt.

Her fingers flew into a series of seals. ‘ _Mokuton no jutsu_!’

Wood shot from the ground and wrapped themselves around the legs, arms, necks and chests of the unconscious mercenaries. Another two bodies fell to the ground next to her, bruises already appearing from where Hanabi had sealed their pressure points. With a wordless command her jutsu restrained the groaning men.

One more and they were done. She whipped around as a blur appeared from the edge of the tree line, wielding a large mace over his head and heading straight for Hanabi. Her hand went to her weapons pocket in a flash. Gripping her last shuriken with the tips of her finger, she sent it flying with a flick of her wrist.

‘ _Hakkeshō Kaiten_!’ The mace struck the swirling rush of chakra as Hanabi span, catapulting him into the air.

Moegi sent a winding timber of wood at the mercenary, slamming him into the ground. The wood split and wrapped itself around his thighs and ankles, biceps and wrists, chest and neck.

‘Release me!’ he yelled, face a deep red from struggling from the restraints. Ah, so he was the leader of this merry band of mercenaries that had been following them like a bad smell. He writhed on the ground, spittle covering his face at the effort. He choked on his words, the wood around his neck tightening and tightening until his face went purple.

‘Moegi, that’s enough.’

The wood creaked, loosening slightly as she lessened the chakra she fed into the jutsu. The guy wheezed, chest rising rapidly as he gulped in air.

Moegi squatted down next to his head, resting her elbows on her knees and stared down at his face. The wood around his legs and arms tightened. ‘Start talking.’

He lifted his head as much as the wooden collar around his neck allowed. ‘Over my dead body.’ He spat at the ground and sneered.

Moegi stood and brushed down her trousers with a sigh. She turned to speak to Hanabi, but found her kneeling over him, two fingers pressed against a point on his stomach. He looked up at Hanabi with defiant eyes, but his bottom lip shook with fear.

‘Every human being, whether they are chakra sensitive or not, have pressure points.’ Hanabi pushed her fingers down hard and the guy cried out. ‘For you, I can force chakra into this point. A little and your stomach will swell and you’ll feel bloated like how you’ll feel after a particularly filling meal. A bit more and it will expand like a balloon. Too much and it will explode, and let me tell you this.’ She lowered her mouth to his ear. ‘A perforated stomach is not a quick way to die.’  
  
Moegi blinked at the terror Hanabi had painted on the man’s face. They were in the midst of gathering intel and she couldn’t stop the thought from forming. With her Byakugan activated, face inches away from an enemy and the threat of a painful death on her lips, Hanabi was incredibly attractive.

The man’s face paled to a ghostly white, his chin wobbled and his Adam’s apple bobbed like the words were stuck in his throat. ‘O-okay, I’ll talk! Please I don’t want to die.’

Hanabi’s smirked chilled Moegi to the bone. ‘Start talking.’

***

The final prison rumbled up from the ground, imprisoning the last of the men into a wooden box. They were small and compact, formed to be uncomfortable, but it would keep them until reinforcements came to take them back to the village.

The door closed with a heavy groan, sealing the prisoner in. Moegi wiped the sweat from her brow. Her hairline damp with the exertion of creating six prisons and enforcing them with enough of her chakra so that it was almost indestructible. She was no Captain Yamato, but she hoped to be and pushed herself to her limit every day. She formed a series of seals with her hands and activated the cloaking jutsu. The wood merged with the trees, hiding the prisons in plain sight. Shinobi from the Konoha could find them, but not others, not without really hurting themselves.

Moegi dropped down next to Hanabi and leaned back on her hands. The sun had sunk beneath the tops of the trees, casting the sky in a deep orange. They needed to set up camp soon and rest if they were to be ready for whatever faced them at Hanamura Bridge tomorrow. They had moved out of the road and into the forest to set up camp. The muscles in Moegi’s arms shook slightly as she pushed herself back onto her feet. They needed wood for the campfire. A hot meal was in order and she needed her green tea.

By the time she came back with a pile of firewood in her arms, Hanabi had finished the report. She dropped the firewood into a pile, settling down onto the grass to watch Hanabi reseal her brush and ink into a scroll.

‘I asked for a team to be sent to collect the prisoners. _Kuchiyose no jutsu_!’ Hanabi slammed her palm down onto the grass; black characters ran from her hand to form a summoning circle and a puff of smoke engulfed her. The smoke cleared to reveal an eagle perched on Hanabi’s shoulder. She held the scroll up to the eagle. It grasped the scroll in vicious-looking talons and took off with a powerful beat of its wings.

‘When did you sign a summoning contract with an eagle?’ asked Moegi. The eagle was a tiny speck in the distance now.

‘In the Shinjitsu Forest.’ The same place that Moegi, Konohamaru and Hanabi had been sent on mission last year. Udon had been away in Suna. The mission had nearly ended in disaster. Hanabi covered Moegi’s tightly clenched fist in her hands, rubbing at the whitened knuckles until Moegi’s hand relaxed. ‘It was after what had happened to Konohamaru.’

And after what had happened between them.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘You had more important things to worry about then.’ Hanabi gave Moegi’s hand one last squeeze and let go.

Moegi forced herself to focus on the building the fire and not on the absence of Hanabi’s hand or the memory of Shinjitsuforest. It had been an urgent mission that could not have waited for Udon to come back, so Hanabi had been drafted in to stand in his place. Naruto had said, over and over again that even if Udon had been there it wouldn’t have made a difference. It had been a trap from the beginning.A year had passed and the sight of Konohamaru bleeding out in her arms still haunted her.

A loud growl came from behind her and chased the memories and what ifs away. She turned to see a light blush dusting Hanabi’s normally pale face.

‘We skipped lunch,’ Hanabi grumbled, a pout appearing.

Moegi struggled to contain her smile. She took out the packet of chocolate-coated, freeze-dried strawberries from her pack and threw it at Hanabi. It should be enough to tide Hanabi over while she cooked.

‘You remembered?’

Moegi blew at the lit kindling, coaxing it into life. She pushed the small bundle of flames into the rest of the firewood, pretending not to hear Hanabi. Of course, she remembered Hanabi’s favourite snack. Everything that Hanabi said or did had the annoying ability of catching her attention. From the moment she had first seen Hanabi at the Chūnin exams Moegi had never managed to stop her eyes from searching her out. It had been the same for Konohamaru, who had always been loud about his feelings for Hanabi.

‘It was in my rations pack.’ Moegi shrugged and summoned the cooking pots and utensils from a scroll.

‘Why are you lying?’

She heard Hanabi crouch down next to her. A hand gripped her shoulder hard and pushed until Moegi looked up. An expression of sadness crossed Hanabi’s features and Moegi swallowed, knowing she had been the one to cause it. ‘It’s not a lie. It was in _my_ rations pack.’

‘You and I know that strawberries, fresh or freeze-dried are not standard.’ The hardness had returned to Hanabi’s voice, a signal that she was getting frustrated at Moegi and it was only a matter of time before another argument would happen between them. They had been doing so well these last few days. All it took was a spark for it to go up in flames, and all because of the existence of a few pieces of dried fruit.

‘Hanabi. Let it go, please.’

Moegi signed, physically tired from the fight, mentally weary from always poking a wound that needed to be left along to heal. She needed to finish this mission, so she could return to the village. She and Hanabi could go back to being people who saw each other occasionally.

Dragging her heart through another conversation that should have already been laid to rest would only hurt her more. Months of distance wasn’t nearly enough time for Moegi to move on and get over the attraction that always simmered beneath the surface of their interactions. The meeting outside the Hokage’s office was a slip up. She had messed up when she chose Café Feuille. Packing the strawberries had been unconscious mistake.

Less than five days was all it took to dismantle three months of Hanabi-related abstinence, all because Moegi wasn’t able to deny her feelings for the woman sat opposite from her.

‘Hanabi, please.’ 

Hanabi turned away silently and did not push the point further. Relieved, Moegi got to work on their dinner. They worked quickly, exchanging few words on how much water the rice needed, whether the beans should be cooked or eaten straight from the tin, and if it was a salmon or a sardine night. The salmon won.

They ate without talking and Moegi focused on spooning rice into her mouth, not daring to look up.

‘Mission rations always remind me of Neji,’ Hanabi said suddenly. ‘When he made jōnin, I badgered him nearly everyday to take me on a training trip. He ended taking me on a month long trip.’

‘Where did you go?’

‘Jukai forest. It was hard, physically and mentally, but I learned so much in that month.’ Hanabi paused and Moegi ached at the sadness in the small lilt at the corner of her lips. ‘It was the first time I was truthful about how I felt… He told me to…’

‘Felt about?’ Moegi leaned in, desperate to understand what Hanabi was talking about.

‘Nothing.’ Hanabi shook her head and stirred the leftover beans in her bowl. ‘Turned out that he only knew how to cook fish, beans and rice. It was all we ate for a month.’

Moegi bit her lip, mulling her next word, careful of the truce they had found. She wanted to keep talking, even if it was superficial. ‘What’s the first thing you want to eat when you finish a mission?’

‘There’s a stall at the food market that does the best beef bowls.’

‘That sounds so good right now.’ The idea of a rice bowl topped with onion and slices of beef sounded heavenly. Moegi’s traitorous heart wished that Hanabi could transform her statement into an invitation to go to the market and have beef bowlstogether.

They could do that. Two people having dinner. Simple.

Moegi sighed and took Hanabi’s empty bowl, stacking it on her own. Of course, they couldn’t do something like that. She poured hot water into two collapsible tin mugs and passed a mug of tea to Hanabi, who took it with a grateful smile. For them, something as simple as dinner would be mired with too much complication. Too much feeling on Moegi’s part.

Stamping down on her disappointment, Moegi sipped her tea, nothing could happen between them. Moegi had made her position abundantly clear over and over again. Yet, she could feel the return of that pushing and pulling.

‘Here.’ Hanabi’s voice cut through her thoughts. ‘You used your last shuriken earlier.’

‘It won’t matter too much. I still have kunai—’ Moegi stopped at the sight of the black box Hanabi held up. When Moegi didn’t answer Hanabi shook it slightly, prompting her to take it.

‘It’s a spare set. You can have it.’ Hanabi went back to going through her pack. 

The sun had set, but even in the darkness and lit by the orange glow of the fire, Moegi saw through the schooled expression of nonchalance and practised indifference.

Moegi opened the flat box and gaped at the contents. It was the shuriken set from the Land of Iron, the same set she had seen at Tenten’s shop a few months ago. They were not a set that someone would _just_ have a spare of.

The feeling of wanting something more than Moegi should rose fiercely again, filling her entirely with nervous energy. Moegi dropped the box onto her bedroll, body moving of its own volition like her mind had no control anymore. She cradled Hanabi’s face with her hands and marvelled at the soft skin beneath her fingers. She leaned forward, entranced and captured by the realisation that Hanabi’s eyes were not completely white like she had thought. Flecks of lilac coloured the iris and she wished for nothing more than to lower her head further. She rested her forehead against Hanabi’s, frozen in inaction as her mind caught up with body.

‘Don’t do this.’ Hanabi clenched her eyes shut. ‘Don’t do this and tell me that we can’t.’

The words stuck, unable to move past the lump in Moegi’s throat and her lips quivered with the force of her indecision. A moment of weakness and she had destroyed their truce once again.

‘I’m sorry,’ whispered Moegi. She slid her hands from Hanabi’s hair and moved away.

Hanabi’s hand reached up to hold onto the back of Moegi’s neck, stopping her from moving away. Tears appeared in Hanabi’s eyes and all of Moegi’s reasons wavered like sticks in a strong breeze. She ached to brush the tears away and to say the right words that would make Hanabi happy, but she couldn’t.

The hand at the back of her neck shook as it moved into her hair. It was Hanabi’s lips that met hers first and every denial, ill-formed reason and poor excuse on why this was so wrong fell away in an instance. Hanabi kissed her desperately, like it was the last time and with a sob Moegi kissed back, putting all the feelings that she could not say out loud in this one moment.

They broke apart, breathless and inches away from each other. The pain in Moegi’s chest flared, worse than it had ever been and she swallowed the tears that started to gather. The lump in her throat appeared, larger and worse than before and no amount of will she exerted could force words from her. With one last look at Hanabi’s tear stained cheeks, she grabbed her pack and sleeping bag and leapt for the trees. 

***

Any semblance of professionalism that they had conducted themselves with had been eradicated with their kiss. Moegi had spent an uncomfortable night dozing in a tree not far from where they had set up camp. No matter what had happened between them, she couldn't abandon the mission. Or Hanabi. When she hadn't been sleeping, her mind wouldn't stop long enough for her to rest. From the dark circles under Hanabi’s eyes, it must have been the same for her.

This was awful. They couldn’t look at each other and had exchanged only a few words. Her heart had soared and crumpled at the same time, all from a single moment they had shared. She bumped into Hanabi’s back, almost knocking her over when she stopped suddenly. Moegi’s hand hovered at Hanabi's waist, but she withdrew quickly and stepped back to give Hanabi space.  
  
‘We here,’ said Hanabi, cutting through Moegi’s malaise like a kunai. Their discomfort with each other drained at arriving at their destination.

Hanamura Bridge was nothing like she had expected. The bridge stretched the length of the canyon and connected the city of Hanamura with the road to Kawasato town on the other side. A pair of stone lions dominated each end of the bridge, guarding the entrance with sharp teeth and reproachful eyes that looked far too alive to be just stone.

There they were at Hanamura Bridge, Takayoshi and his group of mercenaries just as the Hokage had told them.

‘We’ll take them surprise,’ muttered Moegi. A fight like this needed to be quick.

Hanabi nodded. ‘There are thirteen mercenaries in the front. Takayoshi is in the middle and in the back,’ she paused, squinting as she scanned the group with her Byakugan. ‘At the back are the two guards the Hokage warned us about.’

From their viewpoint, Moegi saw that they wore scarred forehead protectors and shinobi gear from the Hidden Cloud. One wielded a buster sword and the other wore heavy metal gauntlets. The Raikage was going to be pissed when he found out.

‘Let’s get this over and done with.’ Moegi’s hands moved rapidly until she slammed both palms onto the grass.

A deep rumble rocked the ground like an earthquake and took the group by surprise. The ground under her hands bulged, roots rose from beneath her fingers and thumbs and shot across the field like winding vines at the ten unsuspecting men, wrapping around their necks and ground their faces into the dirt. Hanabi launched into a chakra-charged run at the two missing-nins, hands moving in a dance as she blocked and countered their attacks with her Gentle Fist. 

Moegi leapt into the fray with a flying kick into Takayoshi’s stomach, spinning into a reverse roundhouse straight into the chest of one of the mercenaries circling Hanabi. ‘ _Shichūrō no Jutsu!_ ’

A wooden cell erupted from the ground with creaking groans, encasing Takayoshi behind the bars. Her hands shook, the jutsu used more chakra from her than expected. She ducked the swing of an axe going for her head, only for it to hit the wooden bars of the cell, throwing the wielder backwards.

‘You’re going to get it now,’ yelled Moegi, forming a one-handed snake seal. She swung her arm and it transformed into a multitude of wooden branches, lengthening and smashing into his face, sending him crashing into the missing-nin with the gauntlets, redirecting the punch aimed for Hanabi’s side into the sword-wielding missing-nin. An electrified strike from his sword drove into the wooden branch, the force of the blow reverberated back to Moegi’s body, shaking her to the bone.

She winced and fed chakra into the jutsu, redirecting the wood and curling it around the waists of the last three mercenaries. With a heave she brought them high into the air and sent them swinging downward in a mass of moans.

Moegi groaned at the throbbing at the base of her head. The exertion of keeping the different techniques going pulled at her mind in all directions. Takayoshi scrambled at the bars of his cage, clawing at the wood with blunt nails and raising the hair on the back of her neck. The pulsing of veins and arteries inside the neck of the ten she held in a strangle pumped in time with the beat of her heart. There was the tug and pull of limbs as they tried to escape her many arms. The hot taste of iron filled her mouth as she bit her tongue. She groaned as she forced timber through the back of Gauntlets, breaking armour, tearing through skin and muscle, and finally killing him with a twist as the wood splintered inside his chest.

Her mind screamed at the overload of sensations, muddling and mixing and merging chaotically as tastes, scents, sounds that weren’t her own fed back to her. The only clear point in all of the confusion was Hanabi.

Hanabi stood alone, head moving from side to side as she looked for the last missing-nin. With one chakra-expelling rotation it would be over soon. Buster Sword appeared out of nowhere and barrelled through the air at Hanabi from behind, sword raised over his shoulder, the blade crackling with electricity. But Hanabi didn’t move.

Moegi’s tired eyes widened, sudden understanding filled her with dread. The Byakugan was not infallible. There was a blind spot.

‘Hanabi, watch out!’ She dropped the seal. Her arm returned to normal, the cage and restraints fell away from their enemies. Sending the last of her chakra to her feet, Moegi sped towards Hanabi as the sword swung down.

Numbness filled Moegi’s body and her front prickled with the pinpricks of a thousand pins, but oddly she didn’t feel any pain. She was aware of her knees hitting dirt, though not the pain that should have followed or the hardness of the ground beneath her. The clouds were blurrier than usual, their outlines less defined and the light harsher than before, tinged with blue sparks and a greenish glow from somewhere below her chin. Her body wouldn’t move, no matter how much she wanted to. Even lifting her hand to wipe at her face didn’t work. Everything felt so bright. And she was tired, so very tired.

She closed her eyes, but opened them again, frowning at the sting on her cheeks and the appearance of hands holding onto her face. Whatever her head rested on was soft and comfortable, and she looked up sluggishly at Hanabi. Tears overflowed from her eyes, falling drop after drop onto Moegi’s face. Hanabi’s mouth moved soundlessly. If Moegi concentrated hard enough she could hear the words, muffled like it was filtering through from a great distance.  
  
She wanted to sleep, but she made Hanabi cry again.

What did she do this time?

She reached up and wiped the tears with her thumb like she had wanted to do yesterday, eyes closing as she did so.

***

Moegi woke to a dark ceiling. She laid still as she surveyed what little she could make out in the room, gaze moving languidly to compensate for the dull pulsing of her head. A bone-deep ache ran through her arms and legs and shifting, even the tiniest amount, made the pain across her front spike to agonising levels, leaving her dry-heaving and gasping for air.

A machine beeped incessantly like a dripping tap and a quiet murmur drifted in from somewhere outside the room. A hospital. She turned her head slowly to the left. Hanabi slept in a chair next to her. Hanabi’s flak jacket and gear was dirtied and bloodied like she had just come back from a mission. Her legs were pulled up on the edge of the chair, head resting on her shoulder at an uncomfortable angle. Hanabi would be sore when she woke up.

So she had made it in time. Her beaten and bandaged body was evidence enough, but seeing Hanabi alive soothed the doubt that this was all just a dream. She shifted to face Hanabi and cried out, eyes scrunching up at the searing pain that flared across the front of her body like scorching flames.

‘Moegi?’ Darkness ebbed at the edge of her vision as the pain pulled her under.‘Moegi!’

‘Moegi? Hey Moegi!’

She frowned, blinking blearily up at the blurry figure above her. Loud. Obnoxious. And, and… It was like wading through a sea of molasses, her mind uncooperative as she searched for the name. Her ears still worked fine. ‘Be quiet Konohamaru.’

The figure bent down close enough for her vision to clear. A wide grin stretched Konohamaru’s mouth from corner to corner. ‘Yep, you’re definitely on the mend if you can say that.’ He helped her sit up, supporting her back with an arm as he rearranged and fluffed the hospital pillows with one hand.

She settled back with a sigh, sweat beaded at her temples from the effort of moving her body. Konohamaru shoved a glass of water with a straw under her nose, telling her to drink it. She sipped obediently, the cold water soothed her sore throat, so it didn’t feel like swallowing sandpaper. She lifted a shaking hand, gingerly touching the tight bandages wrapped around her entire upper body. The pain was oddly absent, replaced by a tingling numbness that felt like pins and needles that she couldn’t shake off.

‘They have you on some pretty strong painkillers.’ Konohamaru put the glass down on the rolling table at the foot of her hospital bed and sat down in the chair beside her bed.

A vague memory of Hanabi sleeping on that very same chair drifted across her mind. ‘Where’s Hanabi?’

‘I told her to go home, get some rest. I had to promise her that I would tell her if you woke up.’ He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He fiddled with his blue scarf and worried his bottom lip. ‘She refused to leave the room. Udon and me have been able to get her to go home and shower. Hinata’s been bringing her food. Other than that she’s been here.’

‘How long have I been out?’

‘You’ve been out for two weeks,’ whispered Konohamaru, his voice low and sombre, and it hit Moegi just how close she had come to dying.

Konohamaru stood up and sat on the edge of her bed, careful to avoid the tubes attached to her hand.

‘I’m sorry for making you worried.’

He dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand. His leg bounced up and down and she watched it with interest. ‘You should say sorry to Hanabi. I’ve never seen her like that.’

It took a lot longer for the information to sink in as the memory of their kiss resurfaced through the haze of medication. ‘What was she like?’

‘Like she wanted to kill anyone who couldn’t save you. If she hadn’t killed the missing-nin who hit you, I don’t think even the Seventh, Hinata and the entire Hyūga clan together would have been able to stop her from leaving the village to find him.’

Konohamaru rolled his eyes and scoffed, agitation filled his features and his jokey demeanour from earlier disappeared. His shoulders tensed and he crossed his arms across his chest. ‘What happened? What happened between you and Hanabi?’

Moegi signed and looked away. She shrugged, ‘Nothing happened, alright?’

‘That’s bullshit Moegi and you know it.’ Konohamaru pursed his lips, jaw tightening as he glared down at her.

Annoyance overtook Moegi’s drowsiness at the insinuation. Konohamaru wasn’t asking about the mission.

‘We’ve lived through the war. We cried for the ones we lost, but the way Hanabi cried when they brought you in. They weren’t the tears for _just_ a friend.’

‘What do you want me to say?’

He stood up and paced the length of the hospital room. On his sixth lap he stopped and leaned on the table at the foot of her bed. ‘Just tell me what happened.’

Moegi huffed out a breath and held onto Konohamaru’s serious gaze. She had survived an attack that should have taken her life. Now more than ever, it was time to be truthful to Konohamaru, to Hanabi, and to herself.

‘We kissed the night before Hanamura Bridge and… last year, in the Shinjitsu forest before the attack… we slept together.’ Her jaw hurt from how hard she bit down on her molars. ‘Don’t blame Hanabi. It’s my fault that it happened and it won’t happen again.’ 

Rage hardened Konohamaru’s features and he threw his hands into the air. ‘Oh come on, Moegi! I’m not stupid! I’ve seen the way you look at her. Even Old Fukuhara from the tea shop could see it and his eyesight’s not been getting any better.

‘Stop being so—’ He broke off, hands grasping emptiness as he tried to put his frustration into words. ‘Stop being so _you_!’

He dropped into the uncomfortable hospital chair heavily and leaned back, head tilted up at the ceiling and longs legs stretched out. She gaped at the bleached white wall opposite the bed, shocked into silence. She listened to her heart beating a pounding rhythm on the monitors, the hard breaths from Konohamaru, and the muffled cough of the person in the room next to her.

The chair scrapped against the textured linoleum and Moegi watched as Konohamaru turned his chair to face her. He took her hand in his. The tears started without warning, running in hot streams down her face as she sought comfort from the warmth in his hands, the familiar calluses from years of training together.

‘I’m sorry, so sorry.’

The apology shocked her into confusion. ‘Why are you sorry?’

‘I don’t deserve to be called your friend. I let pride become more important than our friendship.’ He squeezed her hand and looked down at the white sheet that covered her body. ‘I knew about your feelings about Hanabi. I’ve always known.’

Konohamaru released a deep breath. ‘Hanabi called off the engagement.’

‘What? When?’ How had she not known?

‘Before Shinjitsu forest.’

Moegi’s mouth fell open at the news. That had been over a year ago.

‘Hanabi said it was unfair to me that every time she spent with me, all she could think about was someone else.’

It could have been the medication they had her on or a remnant effect from the blow, but Moegi’s body went numb at Konohamaru’s words. She wasn’t sure what she felt. Anger? Betrayal? Hope? It mixed in a swirling maelstrom inside her and all she could hear was the rapid beeping of the monitor in the room.

‘Hey, hey, Moegi! Look at me!’

Konohamaru appeared in her field of vision, panic in his voice and the world seemed to shake, swimming in and out of focus. She was shaking. Konohamaru was shaking her.

‘Come on, breath with me.’

In. Out. In. Out. Her lungs expanded and deflated as she followed Konohamaru’s instructions. Slowly, the room sharpened into focus, no longer fuzzy at the corners. The clarity gave way to betrayal and she glared at Konohamaru, who was sat on the edge of her bed and didn’t fold under the weight of her anger.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ If she wasn’t recovering from a life threatening injury she would have punched Konohamaru in the face. ‘You knew and didn’t tell me. I thought I was betraying our friendship and you let me carry on feeling this way!’

Konohamaru stood, held her gaze and bowed deeply. ‘I’m sorry. I’ve regretted every single day that I didn’t tell you sooner. It’s unforgivable, but I would do anything to earn your forgiveness.’

She looked at her friend and huffed loudly. Konohamaru flinched at the sound, but didn’t move from his bow.

What a pair they were. She was lying in a hospital bed, wrapped in bandages and Konohamaru was prostrating himself for betraying their friendship. It was something straight out of Kakashi’s romance novels.

‘Get up, you look ridiculous.’

Konohamaru stared up at her, mouth wide open in disbelief. He stood up and rubbed his back, still unable to do more than gape at her.

‘You’re going to spend the rest of your life making this up to me.’ Moegi leaned back into her pillows, drained from the conversation as she mulled in silence. ‘I forgive you.’

His face scrunched up and his mouth wobbled as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. He hid his face into the crook of his arm and Moegi knew she had made the right choice.

It hurt and would take a while to fade, but they were friends first. She handed the box of tissues to him. He blew his nose and wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, sniffling as he brought himself under control and sat back down on the bed.

‘When are you going to tell her?’ asked Konohamaru with a small smirk, despite his pink nose and voice thick with emotion. ‘All you have to do is ask and I’ll help.

Moegi tapped him on the shoulder lightly in an imitation of a punch. ‘I think I’m going to retract my forgiveness.’

‘No way, no take backs.’ Konohamaru shook his head, but his smile wavered. ‘I mean it though. I will make it up and earn your trust again.’

‘Yeah, just hold off until I’m out of hospital.’

***

The hospital discharged her two weeks later under Sakura’s strict orders (threat of further bodily harm if she ignored it) not to do any strenuous physical activities until her check up in another week’s time.

It had been another two weeks of hope rising within her at every rattle of her hospital room door only for disappointment to crash down when the visitor wasn’t Hanabi. Two weeks of watching the door. Two weeks of finding the right words to say. Two weeks of Konohamaru providing unhelpful dating advice.

Moegi stepped out of the hospital and relished the warmth of the sun against her face. She was glad to go home.

‘Hey, stop walking so fast!’ Konohamaru jogged to catch up. ‘You’re going to hurt yourself.’

The wound had healed well, leaving a pink scar that ran diagonally across her body from her left shoulder, down between her breasts to end at her right hip. It was a little tender and still a little numb. A side effect that would fade in time.

‘Stop fussing like a mother hen.’ Moegi nudged him with her elbow to take the sting out of the comment. He had visited her every day since she had woken from the coma. She appreciated his company all the more after realising Hanabi would not be visiting. ‘I’m healing.’

‘Right, tell that to Sakura after she kills me, then comes after you to finish you off,’ grumbled Konohamaru.

They arrived outside Moegi’s building quickly. Konohamaru’s eyes tracked the height of the building, zigzagging up iron staircase stopping at Moegi’s fifth-storey apartment. ‘Are you alright to make it up those stairs? I can give you a hand.’

Moegi bit her lip as she looked up at her apartment. With a chakra-infused jump, she could make it up to her apartment in two jumps. Without chakra, she could reach her door in less than a minute, taking the stairs two at a time. The stairs were much more daunting after being in hospital, even with the physical therapy she had been doing for the last week. 

‘Yeah, I’ll be fine.’ Moegi turned to Konohamaru and nodded. ‘I’ll take it easy.’

Ten minutes later and Moegi wished she had taken up Konohamaru’s offer. She wiped the sweat off her brow and unlocked her door.

Moegi blinked at the sight of her clean and tidy apartment. She took off her sandals at the entryway and closed the door, hanging her keys onto a hook. The apartment smelled freshly aired out and there was none of that dusty and stale air that she had come home to after months of being on missions. The used mugs she had left soaking in her tiny kitchenette had been cleaned and placed on the drying rack. Konohamaru or Udon must have stopped by to clean.

Even the general mess of her living room had been tidied up. The tatty blanket that usually lived on the sofa in a bundle was neatly folded and placed on the back of the sofa. Moegi shuffled slowly into her apartment, touching the corner of her small dining table, running her hands over the chairs and along the walls of the hallway that lead to her bedroom until she stopped at the doorway.

Moegi gripped the doorframe and stared at her unmade bed. The bedsheet was rumpled, the blanket ruffled like someone had got out of bed that morning, and the pillow closest to the wall had an impression with the other laid vertically to imitate a body. She walked into her room and noticed a small duffle bag on the floor at the foot of her bed. There was a half-filled glass of water on the bedside table that Moegi knew she hadn’t left before she left for Hanamura bridge.

A rustle behind Moegi surprised her and she turned around quickly, only for the breath to leave her lungs like she had taken the stairs again.

Four weeks of anxiously waiting to see Hanabi and now that Hanabi was in front of her, Moegi was left breathless at the sight of her. All she wanted was for Hanabi to come closer, but Hanabi stood frozen by the door and Moegi’s brain couldn’t formulate a full sentence, unable to find the words she had wanted to say.

Hanabi’s dark hair was tied up in a loose bun. The hakama and kosode she wore were freshly pressed and well-kept, but incongruous to Hanabi’s exhausted expression. Her pale eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshoot with dark shadows beneath.

‘Hanabi.’

‘I didn’t realise you were coming home today.’ Hanabi ducked her head in an attempt to hide a blush Moegi had already seen. ‘I’ll just get my things and I’ll leave.’

With her head down and eyes downcast, Hanabi tried to brush past Moegi, but Moegi gently caught Hanabi’s wrist in a loose hold. Her hand felt hot against Hanabi’s cool skin.

‘Why didn’t you visit?’

Hanabi’s head jerked up, anger flared in her eyes, but the air was empty of the oppressing weight of Hanabi’s formidable chakra as her face crumpled with grief and the anger faded into anguish. ‘You almost died… you almost died because of _me_! All I could think was all the things I hadn’t said to you. There was so much blood and no matter what I did or said, you wouldn’t stay awake…’

Tears ran freely down Hanabi’s face. Without thought, Moegi stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Hanabi who struggled fiercely, trying to push Moegi from her. The more Hanabi pushed, the harder Moegi held on until her struggles weakened, until her arms dropped to her sides.

‘I was with you every single day, but when Konohamaru told me you woke up, I couldn’t bring myself to see you.’

‘I’m here now, Hanabi. That’s all that matters.’

Moegi’s heart sank at the tired resignation and desolation on Hanabi’s face. She had done this to Hanabi. Moegi had let her fears control her. She had put Hanabi through each one of her insecurities, chipping away at the woman who wore confidence like battle armour and wielded her personality like a weapon.

‘Please, Moegi,’ whispered Hanabi. ‘You say one thing, but then do the opposite five minutes later. I can’t do this anymore. It hurts too much.’

‘I’m so sorry.’

Hanabi bit down hard on her bottom lip, a sob erupting from her as she closed her eyes at Moegi’s words, but Moegi forged on. Moegi reached up and cupped Hanabi’s tear stained cheeks, thumb smoothing over her bottom lip until it was released and colour returned. ‘You have always respected my wishes, always stepped back when I asked, never pushed when I asked you to stop. And all I’ve done is hurt you each time I ran away from my feelings.’

Hanabi’s eyes opened in confusion as Moegi drank in every detail and feature of the woman in front of her. She took in the delicate jawline that was spent too often, tightly clenched, and let her fingers stroke along it.

‘I’m not going to run anymore.’ With a shuddering breath, Moegi grasped onto the glimmer of hope and leapt. ‘I love you. I think I’ve been in love with you since—’ Forever, at least it had felt like forever. Moegi couldn’t remember a time when she had not been caught in Hanabi’s orbit, not since they had known each other.

Soft lips pressed against Moegi’s own, stalling her mind, and all Moegi could focus on was the gentle caress of Hanabi’s lips as her slim fingers slid into Moegi’s hair. Shivers shook Moegi’s body as nails scratched lightly at the back of her neck.

There was no more space between them, but Moegi wanted more. She wanted Hanabi, wanted to erase the distraught longing that filled their last kiss and every interaction since last year. Moegi pressed against and pulled Hanabi’s body impossibly closer, hands scrunching the fine, silk of Hanabi’s kosode.

There was none of the urgency and fervency that had propelled them together last year. No impatient tugs at a stuck belt buckle, no bruising kisses that turned into pleasure-drawing bites, and no frantic hands moving in confined spaces. No, their kisses now were soft and hesitant, butwith every kiss Hanabi gave, it felt like a beginning and a promise of something new.

Moegi’s legs trembled and gave out from under her; she fell backwards onto the bed with Hanabi in her arms, landing on her back with a heavy thump that took the wind from her lungs. Moegi’s chest heaved from the kisses, a little from the pain as her chest reminded her that she hadn’t quiet healed fully, but mostly from the euphoria at having Hanabi in her arms.

It was like a weight had lifted and Moegi could finally breathe easier. How had Hanabi endured the pain Moegi had put her through?

‘I will spend every day making sure I deserve you.’ Moegi wiped the tear tracks and kissed away the fresh flow of tears as they appeared. ‘No more crying.’

Hanabi released a watery laugh and nodded, a growing smile on her face as she leaned down and rested her forehead against Moegi’s.

‘No more crying,’ repeated Hanabi. ‘And no more running.’

Moegi grazed her lips along Hanabi’s jaw. ‘No more running.’


End file.
